Shouldering the Weight of the World

On Nov. 11, 1993, a date worth remembering, Pope John Paul II slipped on a newly installed piece of carpeting in the Hall of Benedictions atop the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica. He fell down several steps and, though in pain, did not lose his mental equilibrium. In an attempt to reassure his concerned onlookers, he said, “Sono caduto, ma non sono scaduto” (I have fallen, but I have not been demoted).

An X-ray soon revealed a broken shoulder. A cast was fitted to immobilize the broken joint until it healed. An important consequence of the break was that the Holy Father was no longer able to continue his practice of writing by hand. Then-Msgr. Stanislaw Rylko came to the pope’s rescue with a laptop computer and took down what would become John Paul’s “Letter to Families” (Gratissimam Sane) for 1994’s Year of the Family. The mishap, however, had its benefits, since this new computer-style arrangement proved to be so efficient that the pope continued to rely on it for much of his written work even after his shoulder healed.

The image of the Holy Father suffering from a broken shoulder and addressing broken families throughout the world is both appropriate and moving. Fittingly, he wrote, “A broken family can, for its part, consolidate a specific form of ‘anti-civilization,’ destroying love in its various expressions, with inevitable consequences for the whole of life in society.” This single sentence stresses both the supreme significance of the family and the danger that a broken family can bring to society.

The essence of the pope’s letter is positive and emphasizes the personal and social significance of the family, which, like the human person, is both “unique” and “unrepeatable.” Every effort, then, must be made so that the family will be recognized for what it is, “the primordial and, in a certain sense, ‘sovereign’ society.” He reminded families of what he had written in other papal documents: “Through the family passes the primary current of the civilization of love.” “The history of mankind, the history of salvation, passes by way of the family.” “The family is the center and the heart of the civilization of love.”

Given this radical importance of the family, it becomes clear that a strong and loving family contributes directly to a culture of life and love. At the same time, a broken family contributes directly to a broken world.

The family, realistically and normatively considered, is a profound and vital organic unity. It originates in a marital communion, described by the Second Vatican Council as a “covenant,” in which the man and the woman “give themselves to each other and accept each other.” The “communion” of the spouses naturally gives rise to the “community” of the family.

As John Paul stated, “The ‘we’ of the parents, of husband and wife, develops into the ‘we’ of the family.” In addition, the community of the family is also grafted onto earlier generations and is open to future generations. The community of the family, because of its personal openness, helps to form the community of society. Thus, “the family constitutes the fundamental ‘cell’ of society.” John Paul’s choice of the word “cell” is most appropriate, given the organic nature and capabilities of the family.

John Paul, very diplomatically, pointed to certain “irregular situations” that represent serious dangers to the integrity of the family. Without mentioning anything specifically, he obliquely referred to various modes of reproductive technologies that fracture spousal and family unity. He saw the “civilization of technology” that places its faith in “safe sex” and a “consumerist, anti-birth mentality that does not place its faith in love” as posing grave dangers to the family and contributing significantly to an “anti-civilization.”

Without referring specifically to same-sex arrangements, the Holy Father maintained that they “cannot be recognized, despite certain growing trends, which represent a serious threat to the future of the family and society itself.” He also denounced notions of “free love,” which include, among its victims, children, who, being abandoned by their mothers and fathers, are made “orphans of living parents,” a powerful expression that indicates how the immorality of parents can have tragic outcomes for their children.

St. John Paul II is often depicted as pressing to his left shoulder a crosier that bears a crucifix known as the “Broken Cross,” a symbol that Pope Francis has adopted. The symbolism suggests both a broken world and a broken healer. The image may be disturbing to some, but John Paul saw clearly what is at stake when the family is undermined.

The family, for John Paul, “is placed at the center of the great struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between love and all that is opposed to love.” The task has been given to the family, “first and foremost, to unleash the forces of good.”

The world needs to understand the immense power for good that lies within the family and, at the same time, the additional harm that broken families can bring to an already wounded world.

Donald DeMarco
is a senior fellow of
Human Life International.
He is professor emeritus at
St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Canada,

Comments

Perhaps is is the people with families who don’t give enough rrom to add another person in their midst: especially the single person, who is so often left alone . . . Each creature is precious to God, the single as well as the married! women as well as men! the suffering as well as the healthy! the poor as well as the rich! . . .

what is one to look at? The heart-connected in God’s all-ambracing LOVE! The sun shines on all! . . .

Posted by Tom in AZ on Thursday, Jul 31, 2014 8:22 PM (EDT):

@Robert: ...You REALLY have no idea what “overarching conceptual framework” means, do you? Since what you are describing is a purely concrete pragmatic argument, and “overarching conceptual framework” is, by definition, concerned with abstraction and principle. “All sex outside marriage is wrong” is an “overarching conceptual framework”; “completely eradicating prostitution and adultery would cause more problems than those do” is a statement about concrete practicalities. In the same way, “focus only on Catholics” is a pragmatic argument, not remotely an “overarching conceptual framework”. It also happens to be completely worthless—indeed, proverbially so, or did you not know that “preaching to the converted” is a byword for “wasted speech”?

Posted by Robert on Monday, Jul 28, 2014 10:36 AM (EDT):

May I say that as part of an overarching conceptual framework, I suggest that the Catholic Church focus only on Catholics and ignore non-catholics altogether.

To Tom Azygous:
I can’t believe people think that JP II wasn’t a good Pope, I thought that honor went to Pope Francis. Kenny must be a right wing nut case and a member of SSPX.

Posted by N.D. on Monday, Jul 28, 2014 10:14 AM (EDT):

Regarding neglect and rejection of Humanae Vitae:

“We know that it times of momentous change the homosexual phenomenon grew, but in this period, it is the first time that the legal problem of assimilating it to marriage has arisen, and this I consider an anti-value and an anthropological regression. I say this because it transcends the religious issue, it is anthropological. If there is a union of a private nature, there is neither a third party nor is society affected. Now, if the union is given the category of marriage, there could be children affected. Every person needs a male father and a female mother that can help them shape their identity.” - pope Francis, page 117, On Heaven and Earth

Posted by Marcus on Monday, Jul 28, 2014 10:07 AM (EDT):

I don’t know what the single people are complaining about.

Regardless of them not having a family of their own (where they are the parents), they still belong to a family.

Being single is only really hard if you are focused on what you don’t have. But if you focus on what you do have (Jesus) then like St Peter, you can walk on water. Perhaps every now and again you need to take your eyes off the waves and direct them back to God.

Posted by Tom in AZ on Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 7:38 PM (EDT):

@Kenny: Or maybe he realized that he didn’t have the background necessary to explicitly describe the technologies involved, and so spoke generally. (Would that he had shown such humility about the fields of corrections and criminology, instead of saying that “we” have the capability to render criminals incapable of further harm—which probably comes as news to all those people raped and murdered in prison.)

Posted by Jim on Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 4:05 PM (EDT):

Neglect and rejection of Humanae Vitae lies at the heart of this. Pope Paul VI prophesized that widespread use of contraceptives would “lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality.” and that “the man” will lose respect for “the woman” and “no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium” and will come to “the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion.”, He said that, contraception would place a “dangerous weapon… in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies.” He said that contraception would lead man to think that he had “unlimited dominion over his own body”. Widespread acceptance of contraception has formed the foundation of attacks on the unborn child, for the destructive use of human embryos in research and the advance of euthanasia. It forms the basis for attacks on our freedom of conscience and religious liberty. Defense of religious liberty and resistance to the culture of death is being called “war on women”. Resistance to the redefinition of marriage has been called “Venom masquerading as virtue.” It is now fashionable to call evil good and good evil. A US Senator has claimed to “excommunicate” Archbishop Cordileone. We live in a world turned upside down, a world gone crazy! This has been a long time coming! St John Paul saw what was at stake when the family was undermined. Pope Paul VI prophesized what would undermine it.

Posted by Theresa Foster on Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 3:02 PM (EDT):

@Kenny I don’t agree that Pope St. John Paul II was “afraid” to name names. By all accounts he wasn’t afraid of anything. He was speaking the truth in love. You can’t win people over to your point of view by hitting them over the head like a hammer.

Pope St. John Paul II knew who he was speaking to and he knew they were smart enough to understand his message. That they chose to ignore that message is on them, not on him.

Posted by Steady State on Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 2:48 PM (EDT):

Single people are rightly viewed as less important in terms of Church and civilization, and I’m one of them so I’m not judging. Single men especially are outside the pale. Civilization itself is in fact the operation that makes the “desperado…come to [his] senses”. Today, out ridkng fences with a rock for a pillow is often more appealing than what liberated women have to offer.

Posted by Kenny on Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 2:06 PM (EDT):

“Without mentioning anything specifically, he [Pope John Paul II] obliquely referred to various modes of reproductive technologies that fracture spousal and family unity”

That’s was one of JPII’s great failing as pope, among many other. The man referred to evils ‘obliquely,’ indirectly. It was as if he was afraid to name names, and in so, JPII spread confusion throughout the world and greatly weakened the Church.

Posted by JT on Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 2:00 PM (EDT):

Let’s not forget the single people, so often left out of the discussion, who want to start families but cannot find suitable spouses in today’s cultural environment. We want to witness, but family life is closed to us. We sit alone in the parishes, asking to be remembered.

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